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US energy giants use crude oil loophole to post record petroleum exports

The loophole allows oil companies to export products that they refine from crude oil”. More BS. This isn’t a “loophole”…a term deliberately used to give the impression refiners are cheating. The law was specifically written to allow product export. One reason was to allow US refiners to get rid of excess diesel. Had refiners not sold it to the EU market they would have had to increase their prices of domestic sales. Same reason EU refiners shipped their excess gasoline to the US. If the US refiners weren’t capturing profit margins in overseas markets they would have to do it all in the US market. So we would have higher domestic prices or refiners might have been driven to shut down. The foreign sales allow US refiners to be profitable. Folks don’t like them making a profit? Fine…cut back their activity […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine needs more gas to avoid problems in winter: Russia's Gazprom

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine needs a total of 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas in storage to avoid problems in winter, double what it has now, Gazprom (GAZP.MM) Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov said on Tuesday. Moscow and Kiev are on the cusp of another gas war after Kiev has refused to pay at higher levels demanded by Gazprom. The Russian company is now asking for prepayment for June and says it will only provide gas that is paid for. "According to our colleagues (in Ukraine), 9 bcm is in storage. To pass through autumn and winter periods normally, we estimate that (Ukraine) needs around 18.5 bcm (in total)," Markelov told a news conference. "So around 9 bcm more is needed." Ukraine wants to change the conditions of a 2009 contract that locked Kiev into buying a set volume, whether it needs it or not, at $485 per 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine needs more gas to avoid problems in winter: Russia’s Gazprom

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine needs a total of 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas in storage to avoid problems in winter, double what it has now, Gazprom (GAZP.MM) Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov said on Tuesday. Moscow and Kiev are on the cusp of another gas war after Kiev has refused to pay at higher levels demanded by Gazprom. The Russian company is now asking for prepayment for June and says it will only provide gas that is paid for. "According to our colleagues (in Ukraine), 9 bcm is in storage. To pass through autumn and winter periods normally, we estimate that (Ukraine) needs around 18.5 bcm (in total)," Markelov told a news conference. "So around 9 bcm more is needed." Ukraine wants to change the conditions of a 2009 contract that locked Kiev into buying a set volume, whether it needs it or not, at $485 per 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak Oil Review – May 12

  1.  Oil and the Global Economy Last week’s trading left futures prices little changed. New York oil closed Friday at $99.99 a barrel and London closed at $107.89. As has been the case for several weeks, the US crude inventory, weak demand, and the Ukrainian and Libyan situations were the main drivers of the oil markets. US crude imports were down markedly the week before last leading to a drop in inventories along the Gulf coast and even total US crude inventories for the first time in many weeks. Some analysts are wondering if Gulf Coast storage facilities can absorb much more oil. Natural gas futures dropped sharply on Thursday after the inventory report showed that the warmer weather has led to natural gas being injected into storage caverns at close to the normal pace. Futures prices are down about 30 cents per million from the $4.85 level […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Brent Crude Rises First Time in Three Days on Ukraine

Brent rose for the first time in three days on concern the Ukraine crisis may disrupt oil supplies from Russia , the world’s biggest energy exporter. West Texas Intermediate was steady after hedge funds cut wagers. Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent in London. Pro-Russian groups hailed a large majority in favor of secession in a referendum in eastern Ukraine that was dismissed as illegitimate by the government in Kiev and its U.S. and European allies. The global oil market is sufficiently supplied and demand is “great,” according to Saudi Arabia’s Petroleum Minister Ali Al-Naimi . “There is still a lit fuse in Ukraine,” Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark , said by e-mail. “The weekend’s unofficial referendum means that the geopolitical tensions will still be around when considering the longer term.” Brent for June settlement climbed as much as 56 cents […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Non OPEC Annual C+C Production Charts

I will continue to depend on your work on peak oil as a great contribution to the understanding of and about peak oil. With respect to commodity and other markets, I will depend on the Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. His bio speaks to his knowledge: Biography[edit] Roberts is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He was a post-graduate at the University of California, Berkeley and at Merton College, Oxford University.[3] His first scholarly article (Classica et Mediaevalia) was a reformulation of “The Pirenne Thesis.” From 1975 to 1978, Roberts served on the congressional staff. As economic counsel to Congressman Jack Kemp,[4] he drafted the Kemp-Roth bill (which became the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981). He played a leading role in developing bipartisan support for a supply-side economic policy.[3] Due to his influential 1978 article on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Oil Minister Al-Naimi Sees No Reason to Change OPEC Output

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries won’t change its crude oil output level when it meets next month, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Monday. "Supply is highly sufficient. Demand is great. And the market is fairly stable. There’s no reason for a change. absolutely no reason," Mr. Al-Naimi said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Seoul. Asked if OPEC’s output cap of 30 million barrels a day is right, the oil minister said: "I think so. I know so." He also said the current global oil price of $100 a barrel is the fair price "for everybody, consumer, producer and oil companies." Mr. Al-Naimi said OPEC is willing to supply any shortage which may arise in the market if Russia’s exports of oil are disrupted as a result of the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Benchmark Nymex crude oil for June delivery was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran leader slams West's 'stupid' missile stance before talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. "They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action," Khamenei was quoted as telling the IRNA news agency while on a visit to an aeronautics fair held by the Revolutionary Guards. "So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation … The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials." Iran and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran leader slams West’s ‘stupid’ missile stance before talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. "They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action," Khamenei was quoted as telling the IRNA news agency while on a visit to an aeronautics fair held by the Revolutionary Guards. "So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation … The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials." Iran and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran nuclear talks face a major hurdle

Three months into intense international negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear development program, Tehran’s team has surprised almost everybody with its apparent eagerness for a deal. Iranian negotiators have met all of their commitments under November’s interim agreement, have proposed compromises on some key disagreements, and have taken part in three top-level meetings without the squabbles that were common over the last decade of fruitless haggling. Yet President Hassan Rouhani’s government is moving away from the United States and its allies on an issue that may be the most important of all. Put simply, the six world powers want Iran to curtail enrichment of uranium. They want Tehran to cut its 19,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges to a few thousand. Tehran, however, is insisting on vastly expanding capacity by adding thousands more centrifuges for what it says is strictly civilian energy purposes. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple